Title Here
by w4sp
Summary: Discontinued...
1. Chapter 1

**Title Here**

Shizune x Naruto

_By w4sp/Aresu_

Disclaimer: You MAY NOT recopy this NOR repost it anywhere, the story belongs entirely to me, as for the characters, those belong to Mr. Kishimoto, Naruto Also belongs to him, not me.

A/N: This, is my first fan fiction EVER, so please be nice, I don't mind criticism but keep it polite, I would like it if you pointed out my grammar mistakes so I could go back and correct them. Now about the pairings...well, Shizunaru... quite unusual, I know, but maybe I'm not really sane as I'm writing that... who knows O.o Anyhow, First chapter, I'm working on the second one, If the story gets good feedback, I might keep posting it on here, if not, well you can always add me to your msn (with my profile email) and ask for it, I'll gladly send it over. Enjoy!..well I hope.

**Warning, Uber OOC, read at own risk, can cause dramatic cases of run-around-scream-yell-break-everything-because-angered syndrome. This slightly AU.**

**Chapter 1**

Despite what it looked like, Shizune was nowhere near happy working at the Godaime's office. Of course Tsunade had been as close as a sister to her, but she had never really been anything else than lazy, and with her becoming Hokage, that meant Shizune had to constantly bring in the paper work, wake the elder woman up -which she didn't quite like doing- and try to motivate Tsunade to work. She hated it, she hated the life of a politician, staying enclosed in a building all day and working with tons of paper, sorting them, signing them. Okay, she didn't do the signing herself, so what? She still had to persuade the Hokage in doing it. Besides, Tsunade was not so kind to Shizune, always telling her off and barely listening to the poor girl. Of course, her pride as a kunoichi wouldn't allow the black haired girl to express all of these feelings, yet it didn't keep her from actually feeling them. It had been a while now, and all the time she had spent with her _sister – _as she liked to call her – even before Naruto had brought them back to Konoha in order for the sannin to be promoted to Hokage status had been composed entirely of herself lecturing Tsunade about not being so careless and actually taking things in her own hands, which obviously served no purpose. Shizune wanted changes, she wanted to be taken care of, to be seen as a precious person to someone, not the other way around.

"Tsunade-sama!" she exclaimed angrily, with Tonton, oinking angrily, in her arms.

"_mumble...grr..._Paper..._mumblemumbleZzZz...grrr_" was all the blonde haired woman said.

"Wake up Tsunade-sama! You have work to do!" she yelped in a raging tone, not realizing her mistake.

Tsunade's eyes flew open at the noise and she grabbed Shizune's wrist with her inhuman strength. Shizune squealed in pain as the half-sleepy woman glared at her with a killer intent.

"T-T-Tsuna-nade-s..s-sama! Pl..please... d-d-on't... kyaa!" The defenseless girl flew to the wall across the room, along with her pet-pig.

"Sumimasen kudasai! Godaime-sama!" yelled Shizune as she let a few tears flow along her cheeks.

"What's the matter, Shizune? Eh?" the Hokage said.

"Y...You should...get... to work..h..Hokage-sama!" the teary girl sobbed and quickly formed her arms around her poor curled form in a defensive state, expecting another blow.

Awkward silence. The blow never came. Shizune slowly looked up, in a frightened tone, which was not all that obvious.

"You are right, Shizune, I'm sorry I hurt you." With that the lady turned around and got back to her paper work, leaving a rather stunned girl and her pig to wonder what the hell was happening.

Shizune dully stood up and walked out of the Hokage's office. She walked past the 2 chuunins guarding the wooden door, and then walked all the way out of the building, fighting back the growing tears in her black, reflect-less eyes. As soon as she lay a feet outside the main doors of the building, she burst into tears, crying freely and sobbing uncontrollably. _Why...why does she have to beat me up like that?and why has she not hit me... maybe it's...getting better...no.. it's most likely not. I never did anything bad to her, I even lent her my money when she gambled, and she lost it, yet now she takes out her anger on me... _She felt her stomach tying in a knot, feelings of anger,sadness, endless sorrow and culpability welling up inside her. She crossed her arms around her chest, reaching her shoulders as she ran headfirst downstairs, crying loudly and getting herself stares from everyone. She didn't mind though, she only ran. As fast as she could, as far as she could. Not planning to stop any time soon. Eventually though, her whole body began aching. Not able to bear the pain, she collapsed to her knees, curling upon herself on the ground, Tonton still in her arms, oinking at her mistress sadly. The girl finally managed to find her composure, well if you could call it that, she simply stopped shaking uncontrollably and just sobbed quietly. Shizune had never wore any make up, so it wasn't a problem when she was crying, she was still as pretty and charming. Her short black hair down to the middle of her neck were covering her face._ What have I done to deserve that...I..I'm a good g-girl...I've never done anything to upset anyone, and I've always did my best to help others. _Hell, now she felt like dieing, having all eyes directed at her.

Ino, who was on her daily jogging, happened to be crossing said black-haired lady's path. She jogged up to the sobbing lady, and kneeled next to her:

"Excuse me there, Are you okay?"

Shizune pushed herself to her feet, every muscle in her body screaming murder. She blocked her face with her hands, beginning to sob louder again and she ran. She ran endlessly, now determined to never stop.

- - -

Naruto walked, carrying a somewhat red, semi-transparent cocoon. If you looked closely, you could make out fox ears in the young boy's hair, and the red glow had the characteristics of chakra. His blond hair was stripped with black meshes, his arms were torn at some parts, and had deep cuts, open wounds and you could even see trough his body at the area where his left lung should have been. Yet, apparently, the red chakra had formed strings, and a transparent lung, which pumped at the rhythm of the boy's breath – quite fast – as he approached the village. His eyes were crimson red and his pupils slitted. He bore fangs and his whisker marks were glowing. In the cocoon you could faintly see the shape of the traitor, Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto had managed to bring him back. As he came into view, spotted by a chuunin in the guard tower, the whole town became agitated. Of course Sakura was the first one at the gates, followed by a somewhat perplexed Ino, then came into view Lee, Shikamaru, the Konohamaru Corps, Tenten, Chouji, Hinata, Neji, Shino and even Kiba. Naruto, as soon as he entered the town, dropped Sasuke. Sakura was next to him before even the ANBU got there. She looked at her prince charming, tears filling up her emerald eyes. The ANBU then took him away, and Sakura turned to Naruto, her eyes quickly switching into anger mode. She walked up to him, looked him from head to toe, then back up, before spitting at his see-trough wound.

"Naruto! You damned moron! YOU FAILED! YOU HURT HIM! YOU STUPID JERK, I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN, I HATE YOU! WHAT DID YOU DO TO SASUKE-KUN? Monster!"

She slapped him.

Naruto did one of his hurt face, shamefully looking to the ground. More beating ensued, his already worn body not able to defend, on the edge of death. Then, Ino stepped in, wanting to add her word as well.

"NARUTO! How could you? Forehead girl's right for once! You hurt our Sasuke-kun, pay with your life now!"

She punched him in the gut. Naruto Screamed in agony, his breath cut, the red chakra dissipated. He fell to his knees, only to get a knee up his chin. He then flew backward a few feet, landing with a painful thud. The two girls kept on bashing on him, and Lee watched in horror as his love for Sakura died straight there. Shikamaru hid his sadness, because he knew how much Naruto meant to him, and he knew he couldn't do anything if he wanted to keep Ino's love. So there was the spiky blond, whom had become so much more than Konoha's number one hyperactive, loud and clumsy ninja. Naruto laid down, closing his eyes peacefully, as he said one last thing.

"Sakura...Ino... is that how...you...two...th--" He coughed up blood, his stomach wound began bleeding at such an horrifying speed that Tenten had to look away, not to be sick.

"...Thank me...?" Naruto coughed once more before he went black.

- - -

He stirred in something he felt was soft, warm and comfortable._ Is this heaven? It feels so... ARGHHHH Itai ITAI, IT HURTS! _No, this wasn't heaven, this was a sign he was still alive and... well, not-so-well. He tried opening his eyes, which proved to be futile, since he could barely manage to think without aching. Then he heard a soft voice telling him everything was alright, that he was on his way to be better. He felt reassured, but as he recalled what had happened, he had a flash, what had happened to Sasuke, what about the bastard? And mainly where was he? And then, where was he, himself? Naruto guessed it was the hospital and so he asked the girl, with a rather torn voice:

"W...where...a..am I? H..Hospi..tal?"

"Yes", she replied with a loving and caring voice, "You're at the hospital."

He already felt a bit better at hearing that. He slowly managed to open his eyes to a rather blurry vision of a yellow and green blob.

"Naruto, I thank you for bringing Sasuke back, your mission was successfully completed, and because of that, you are thereby promoted to chuunin, as well as given 3 months off duty which are paid by Konoha, as well as the mission reward we had agreed upon."

Naruto managed a foxy grin of his own, as the vision became clearer. _Baa-chan can be that sweet? I'm sure I've never heard her talk like that to me. _The fox-like boy grinned as he moved his hand into a hug-me way. Tsunade hugged him and smiled as well, after all, she was happy the boy was alright.

"Naruto, You have visit" a woman called from outside the room, letting Shizune into the dark room.

"Hokage-sama, Shizune has come to see you as well."

Tsunade nodded the woman off and turned to Shizune, which had a slight blush and was staring at the wounded boy. She had gotten over her little runaway, and was back a few days after.

"What is it for, Shizune? Where is Tonton?" The older woman asked.

"Oh.. I left her at home, and actually," She blushed crimson, "I've come to... to see how N..Naruto is doing."

"Oh, Fine then, I'll leave the two of you alone" Tsunade said with a smirk as she left the room and went back to her office.

Shizune stayed there, petrified, in front of Naruto, who looked at her in a strange way, his head tilted on the side.

Silence.

A moment went by before Naruto spoke up:

"Oii Shizune-neesan! How are you?" he said, with a trademark grin.

_Ohhh, Shizune, no more, please aahh-aaa--- ! _Shizune snapped out of her daydreaming as she heard Naruto's voice.

"O..Oh Na...Naruto! Heh...heheheh, I'm fine... and don't call me sister, I'm not your sister." She laughed sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head.

"If you say so, Shizune-san" He bobbed his head in a nod as he grinned.

Shizune blushed lightly and with all her will, sat on the hospital bed, next to the rather-wounded boy. He looked at her and noticed her blushing. He also noticed how she wore fishnet under her black and white kimono. He was starting to feel rather uncomfortable, that is, until she spoke.

"N..Naruto, I..I hope you get well hmm?" She smiled her cutest smile.

Something about the boy seemed to change at that very moment though, he frowned.

"Shizune, why do you care about me, ne?"

She was dumbstruck, she was speechless, why did she care about him? _Ohh Shizune, I love it that way, don't stop please, Shi...zu...ne... _She mentally kicked herself.

"Well...Naruto... I love you, erm, I mean, you know, as in, friends, yeah, that's it, I love you as a friend." she said as she seemed to tense up, apparently stressed.

"Oh, but... that's not the only reason, is it, Shizune-chan?"

His voice sounded needing, he sounded as if he was broken, as if he lacked something all this time, all of his life. Of course Shizune knew about the nine tails, but still, she couldn't figure out what he wanted, lacked and needed. To top it all, he looked pleading. _Naruto... you are so...sexy. _She carefully placed a hand in his hair, ruffling it and patting his head.

"Naruto, you do know that if I don't want you to call me neesan, it means that I might want to someday...well you know.. be more than a... simple sister to you, right?"

Naruto looked at her dumbly, as if he hadn't gotten a single thing out of this and had no idea what she was talking about.

"What do you mean more than a simple sister, ne Shizune?"

A giant sweat drop formed behind her head as she blushed and looked around nervously, trying to disappear suddenly.

"Umm... well, Naruto...kun..." she trailed off as she blushed madly, staring at the wounded boy.

"What is it, Shizune? Tell me please please please!" He grinned foxily as if he had totally no idea at all.

_Maybe he really doesn't know. _She smiled to herself, picturing how it would be, teaching him everything. Naruto of course had noticed her smiling, and so, his naive little self couldn't keep itself from asking why.

"Ano, Shizune, why are you smiling, ne?"

She stopped dead, looked at him, heeding a strange expression, as stoic as a brick, actually.

"Shizune, are you okay? Gee gee what did I do?" Naruto began panicking and fought hard to try to get up and 'help' the girl, to no avail though.

"Na..Naruto, I'm alright... sorry, I was just thinking" Wrong.

"Oi? Thinking about what?"

She flushed, looking at him like he had said she smelled bad.

"Mind your own business kid!" she yelled in an angry voice which let upon a glimpse of teasing.

Naruto did a pout face "Heh! Always like that! But when I become Hokage--"

"Fine fine", Shizune interrupted him before his speech about his dreams and such, although she liked them, it wasn't what she had come here to hear. "Naruto...I was thinking about you, silly."

He looked at her for a few seconds, then tilted his head to the side, ever grinning. Then his mouth formed a 'O' as he struck his chin as if he was thinking deeply. Then his eyes burst out into stars, his body trying to move in to hug the black haired kunoichi. He ached in pain and resolved to just looking at her, that is, until she hugged him. He rested his head on the pillow as he stared up at the ceiling and told her:

"Shizune! You were thinking about treating me to ramen in order to celebrate my bringing's sasuke back! How kind!"

She fell to the floor, as red as a tomato, but it was from being pissed off.

"NARUTO! Baka!" She roared, making him suddenly fear for his life, and then walked off.

He sighed. The blond boy somehow knew he had done, actually, said something wrong. He could feel he had upset his guest. He drifted down to sleep, rethinking the events and what the jounin girl had told him.

- - -

Shizune grumbled at herself as she walked trough the Konoha streets, scolding herself for leaving him alone because he was just ignorant. She went back to the Hokage's office, for she did have work, after all. The girl began making her way inside the building, when she remembered something. _Sakura. Crap! What is she going to do, not allowed to go see Sasuke being 'exorcised' she might try to take revenge on... _Her words trailed off as she pictured the pink haired girl beating on Naruto in his hospital bed, unable to do anything. It was horrifying for her, it terrified her and it tormented her, she couldn't leave the foxy boy alone. She had to go back. Now.

She ran, yet again, not stopping untill she reached the hospital doors. Standing there, in front of the door, she waited a few moments to compose herself, then hastily walked in.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Shizune knocked at Naruto's door, although not expecting an answer. The girl calmly walked into the small, dark room, with a single window, shut tight and covered by white, silk curtains. The room's atmosphere was rather morose, a scent of blood in the air, although there was a certain blond boy's scent up there as well. Kyuubi's weasel was asleep, a sleep which seemed dreamless and painful, although the boy looked especially cute to the woman's eyes. There was a small wooden table, where flowers and letters should have been, which, unfortunately, was empty. Something she guessed was quite stupid, seeing the heroic action the boy had done. _Girls in this village are so immature, everything resolves around that Sasuke bastard... Poor Naruto._ She looked at his sleeping form, while he shifted slowly, his face unconsciously showing pain as he did so. There she was, staring at his cheeks, which bore whisker-like marks, lost in thoughts and awe.

Knock Knock.

The door slowly opened, revealing a shy, dark blue haired girl. She had pale skin, she was small and her eyes were pearl white. Hinata was her name, Hyuuga Hinata. The gennin held a flower bouquet in her hands, along with a letter. She walked up to the table, where she put the flowers alongside the letter, clearly in view, so Naruto would see them at his awakening. Shizune looked at Hinata in a peaceful manner, thinking to herself, still.

Hinata twiddled with her fingers shyly, looking away from Shizune. "K-k..Konba-n w-wa, Shizune-sama."

Shizune smiled a friendly smile from ear to ear, motioning the girl to move next to her and have a seat.

"Hello, Hinata, it's nice to see I'm not the only one who cares about Naruto!" she happily whispered.

"I...I-...'ve come to...w-well... N..Naruto...g-give him...these f-flowers." the girl, ashamed, looked to her feet, pushing her fingers against each other once more.

"That's so kind of you Hinata-san! You shouldn't be shy about that" The jounin replied in an understanding tone.

_Argh, Hinata, he's going to be mine, hands off! _Shizune was starting to feel slightly jealous about this, in fact, she was not slightly, but really jealous, for the Hyuuga was in Naruto's age range, while herself was much more older, and higher ranked, although she didn't really think she could beat the boy, she was still a jounin, and he was now just a chuunin. _Oh well, that doesn't matter!_ She cheered herself up. Silently staring at Naruto, intent on forgetting about her work and waiting by his side until he woke up, just to ensure his own security. The wound in his body had begun closing – thanks to kyuubi's healing powers – and the less deep of his cuts were already faded to nothing visible. The blond boy had really matured, although he was still hyper and noisy, it was becoming better, and that cheered Shizune up a lot as well. His hair were starting to grow longer, although if he had a hair cut in mind, she didn't know. He seemed totally peaceful about everything, his rest was soundless, except for the occasional shifting, his eyelid shut without an effort, leaving no trace of forced sleep, his arms by his sides and his mouth slightly curled in a smile. The black haired girl giggled playfully to herself, blushing as she gazed upon him. Next to her, Hinata was thinking almost the same thing.

_He's so... cute... My Naruto-kun. _She blushed a shade of pink, imagining a romantic scene of Naruto and her, kissing and holding each other tightly.She broke out of her thoughts though, as Shizune talked to her.

"Hinata-san..." she hesitated, "You love him, don't you?" she grinned warmly.

Hinata blushed madly and nodded, before taking her go and running out of the hospital, where she then leaped from rooftop to rooftop until she reached the Hyuuga estate. Shizune, On the other hand, just sat there, plainly.

- - -

It had been a week. Shizune spent most of her free time by Naruto's bedside. She was not always the only one though, Hinata would come and visit too once in a while, and Sakura had come to mock him, along with Ino, but the older woman scared them off. Sasuke was now a bit better, although not many had forgiven him, only Sakura and her rival, which were way too hooked to him to care. But that didn't matter much, because today, something was about to happen. Early morning, you could hear birds chirping joyfully, sun was at dawn, the sky was tinted orange and pink, along with a few shades of purple, all in all, a beautiful morning, peaceful. Well, that was if you ignored Lee and his 3000 laps-and-counting around Konoha, as a training, for he thought he didn't match Naruto, and thus wanted to train. Right now, the blond boy was alone in his room, still sleeping, not having waken up once from when he fell back to sleep, a week ago.

_Clang._

A rock broke through the window, hitting the hold-bar of the bed with a noisy 'bing'. Naruto flinched, but didn't seem to wake up. A few more throws ensued, until one hit Naruto straight to the head, which indeed made him fly awake.

"What the hell was that for?" He screamed at the window, noticing the curtains were still closed.

The young boy flew them curtains open, noticing the pretty dawn scene, at least, until he got hit by a rock coming from seemingly nowhere. Naruto's eye were the baby blue they always were – usually – and he looked quite hurt actually, the boy had hid his feeling for too long. He had always lived in hope of someday being acknowledged, thinking it was going to change, and yet, no matter how hard he tried, it always came down to the same thing: being ignored, ignoring it, and trying harder, to no avail. He had also went trough a period of time where he told himself he was the one everyone had to hate, in order to stay happy, but that was when he was still a young, young child. Sometimes he wondered why he would even bother trying anymore, and today, that's what had happened, he told himself it was over, he had had enough of this fake smile, fake life, in fact, fake everything, his decision was taken, he was going to walk away from Konoha, yes, that's right, walk. He was sure no one would notice him anyway, so he just jumped trough the window, in the early morning, and calmly walked towards the gates, getting thrown rocks at him. He couldn't make out whom it was, not that he had intended to. He thus walked, until a voice in his head rang.

"**Naruto, whelp, listen.**"

_What is it, old fox?_

"**Don't you call me that, whelp, I have seen what they do to you, and it angers me."**

The fox's roar echoed trough his sewer-like mind.

"**I'll help you out, If you agree to a little deal."**

_You're trying to trick me! Don't you even think about it!_

"**Oh but whelp, it's a win-win situation," **the fox continued,** "I'll have your body modified a little, just so that part of me is part of you, in exchange, you get most of my chakra at will, unlike before, when it was controlled by the ninth gate, the seal if you prefer."**

_Is that it? I'm not up to that._

"**Fine, whelp, I'll then give you heightened senses, those of touch, feel, hearing, smelling and vision, and, unfortunately, a downside is you will always have your red eyes. Let me explain though, you will most likely have to hide those eyes, but it won't be a problem, since you will _feel _everything around you, not needing to see anymore."**

_Well, I guess this will do. I'm fine with it, but answer me one question, and stop calling me whelp!_

"**Okay, whelp, one question it is."**

_Don't call me whelp!_

"**Unfortunately, I cannot do that, whelp. Ask your question now."**

_Okay, why are you helping me?_

"**I know it is unusual for a demon to help a human, but I've been stuck in there for way too long, whelp, and by helping you, I grant access, even though little, to the real world, which will take away my anger, a bit."**

Naruto smiled to himself, he had nothing to risk anyway, if the fox was unleashed, freed, it would not only make him nearly invincible – although unable to control his body – but it would allow him to take revenge on those of Konoha that betrayed him.

_A sou, then let's do that... _He trailed off. _Umm, Kyuubi, how do we do that?_

"**Just channel some of my chakra, and grant me access to your hands so I can do a few seals"**

_How do I make sure you won't take over?_

"**You don't, you just trust me."**

_I'll do, okay, here goes nothing._

Naruto's eyes turned red as he channeled the demon's chakra, crimson aura spinning evilly around him. He then focused. _Access to hands, access to hands, access to hands... _He suddenly began to do seals, some which he didn't even recognize, as much as it went fast.

_Inu, Tori, Saru, Usagi, Nezumi, Tora, O-ushi, Hebi, Ousu-buta, Uma, Hebi, Tora, Usagi, Saru, Tori, O-ushi, RYU!_

His body went all red, an opaque red, all of his facial details, clothes and skin turned to that color. The chakra then enveloped him, his ears starting to form into which of a fox, his fangs growing longer, his hair growing longer, his whisker marks taking up more space, and accentuating, his clothes changing, taking the shape of a trench coat, a shirt making up underneath it, as well as strap pants, which had many pockets and holsters. When the red aura cleared away, everything identified itself to a color as best as it could. His hair still blond with black strips, although the blond had taken a somewhat crimson tint into it. The trench coat made out of leather, was black, as well as the pants and shirt, which wore a deformed Uzumaki emblem, ledges sharpened and looking more like a question mark now.

The boy felt stares, he turned around to see the shallow figures of his assailants which now seemed frightened. He lowered his forehead protector onto his red eyes, feeling everything around him, getting a whole neat picture of the area in his mind, colors included, and every little details, up to things he wouldn't have seen with his normal eyes. He felt the power surge trough him with such ease, as if he didn't even need to try to employ Kyuubi's chakra. He felt it merging to his own chakra, the flow in his pathways changing to purple. He focused chakra to his tenketsu points, and released, causing a huge purple haze around him, which seemed rather burning, not to mention frightening. The little fellows ran away as they noticed Naruto very slowly walking towards them. The red eyed half-fox smiled to himself, which actually looked more like a devilish smirk, bearing fangs and pointy ears. The boy turned around and kept on walking towards the gates, intent on leaving this place, after all, he did not belong here.

- - -

Shizune got inside the hospital room, noticing _her_ Naruto-kun wasn't there. She looked trough the window and saw someone headed towards the gate, though the person didn't look at all like the Naruto she knew, actually, it didn't look any close to him, except maybe... _Who has blond hair in this village except Naruto..._ She thought for a moment. _No one! Naruto! Don't do anything silly! Do not step outside the gate Naruto... please!_ Shizune jumped trough the window as well, quickly running after the boy.

- - -

Naruto felt someone with an average chakra signature, most likely a jounin of the sort – for he was new to detecting chakra signatures clearly – coming towards him. He did as though he hadn't seen it, walking casually towards the gates. Confusion was tearing him apart, he was fed up with everyone here in Konoha, nothing would change his mind, or so he thought. Naruto was about thirty feet away from the gate.

Twenty feet.

Ten feet.

Five feet.

"Naruto-kun! hold it right there!" he hear a torn, empty, trembling voice.

The boy turned around, to a vision that forever marked him. Shizune, the Shizune he knew as a older sister, was running towards him, tears flowing freely, her hair blowing in the cold morning breeze as she did. Naruto felt something inside his heart break. His mind filled with remorses, feelings of culpability, hatred towards himself. Regret pasted in his eyes, he locked her into a stare, as he was just beginning to speak.

"Shizune! I'm s--"

The girl was tightly hugging him, her head rested on his shoulder, sobbing and shaking, due to the never ceasing sorrow she felt. Her arms were around his neck, playing in the back of his hair, causing the boy to slightly blush, although the purple chakra emanating from him removed all traces of that. He had never felt such thing before, it was all new to him, he had an idea what it was, of course, and had been hugged before, although this, this was more than just a simple hug, he had an extra feeling he couldn't get his finger on. Naruto, being... well, Naruto, decided, as he would normally do, to ask the person who was the cause of this.

"Shizune..." he was at lack of word, although faith smiled upon him, as it seemed to come out on its own, "It'll be okay...don't worry..." he smiled, though she couldn't see it.

"Na..Na...n..." she sobbed too much to manage a single word.

The blond boy patted her back softly, as though his body was acting on its own, but that wasn't Kyuubi, and the boy knew it.

"Don't worry I said." he whispered to her as he slowly rocked her back and forth.

It took a few moments before the kunoichi composed herself, and it took another moment before the fox-like boy would dare ask his question. In the streets, near the Konoha gates, you could see a huge sphere of purple chakra burning around two shapes, one of a man, the second of a girl, holding each other tightly, the man kneeling on the ground and the girl laying half on top of him.

"Ne, Shizune, what was... that feeling I felt before?" Asked a rather embarrassed boy.

She pulled herself even closer to him, if that was possible, grasping every opportunity she had to be that close to him. "Naruto, I'm not you, I don't feel what you do, you'd have to describe how you felt, you know" It was her turn to tilt her head sideway, with a slight grin plastered across her face.

"By the way, Naruto-kun, your new clothing style suits you well, and..." she backed away from him a bit, staring at where his eyes should have been. "...how could you see me? How can you know where I am with this forehead protector on your eyes, and yet, why is it on your eyes?" she asked, looking demanding.

"Well, I might explain you later, not in the middle of the town, just like that though." he replied, grinning foxily.

"Okay, but then you have to explain to me that purple chakra, and also..." she trailed off slightly, and blushed ever so lightly, "...tell me why everyone treats you that way here in Konoha." Although she knew, she still wanted to have a reason to make him come over to her own office – she did have one, after all – where she could spend a little time with him. "At my office. This evening."

Naruto nodded happily, got up, and, in a hyper voice, yelled.

"Yatta! Tonight then you also have to tell me what I felt!"

_Ah, that Naruto, make him look as mature as possible, yet he still manages to be a little kid. It's amazing._

They both walked together until they had to split up, The black haired girl going to Tsunade's office, and Naruto getting ready for his official promotion to chuunin.

* * *

Okay, That's it for chapter 2, Those updates were close to each other, but it might not always be like that, I'm quite busy lately. I'm also happy to announce that I kinda sketched how Naruto should look like, it's not really related to the fiction though. Once it's either colored by my friend, or once I get my graphic pad and actually color it myself (not before Christmas :P ) well, I can't show you, but once it's done, I'll post the link. :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I could make them longer, if you guys really want to, but then they'll take longer to post. I fixed the chuunin thing in chapter 1. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Patch5129: I can't tell you, but you'll see for youself. As for the HinataShizune rivalry...well I'll keep that in mind, thank you!**

**Sorry if this chapter is a bit shorter than the usual, I had somewhat of a writter's block, anyway, here, chapter 3 for you guys, hope you enjoy! Don't forget to tell me if you spot any mistakes, I don't have a proofreader and my spellchecker somehow blew up O.o  
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* * *

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Naruto entered his house, a small, three piece. It was calm, not dirty, but not clean either. The walls were painted a faded beige, the ceiling was made of wood planks, and so was the floor. Cracks could be seen in the furniture, most likely because the boy didn't have enough money to afford anything great. He went to the kitchen, not even bothering to remove his sandals, and set up some water for boiling. The boy then took a instant-ramen package and threw it on the table, next to the single bowl he had, along with the single pair of chopsticks he had. The water still boiling, he went to his bathroom and took a shower. After having breakfast and placing everything back to where it belonged, Naruto left for the team seven training grounds, after all, he had all day to train. The boy walked trough the Konoha streets, meeting up with Lee, who just jogged past.

"Oii, Lee! Don't you think you've done enough laps?" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto-san," Lee shouted back, not even bothering to stop, "I still have one thousand more to do, before I can catch up with you!" The green beast was now running backwards, doing a 'nice guy' pose at the same time.

Naruto sweat dropped, Lee was really, really, hard on himself sometimes. Oh well, he shrugged the thought away and kept walking.

Seeing the grounds come into sight, the boy joyfully sped up, eager to get down to work.

- - -

Hinata had been training as well. She had noticed Shizune had an eye on Naruto, and didn't want to just lose all her chances. She had to do something about it. The blue-haired girl was practicing a technique the Hyuugas had never used before, for they thought it too reckless and by far too 'out of style' for their 'greatness'. That, though, didn't keep the young genin from learning it. There she was, in a dojo-like room, along with her changed cousin Neji, who now believed that faith could be altered because of a certain blond boy.

"Kaiten!" Neji yelled.

Hinata just spun on her feet, used the kaiten's spin momentum to propel herself at a wall, bouncing off it and speeding back to where Neji was, though she tripped at about half way after the wall bounce. The girl fell to her face, her inner self cursing silently as she stood up, ready for another try. The point of this training was to get used to the speed, and use the momentum to one's advantage, never loosing one's own speed, in other terms. It went like this all morning, Untill she could successfully do it at will.They then practiced the altered Jyuuken style, which consisted of severing tenketsu's, instead of closing them. Using that style along with Rokujuuyonshou would instead result in overflow of chakra for the victim, causing temporary inhuman strength – explaining the momentum training – but quickly burning the body to less than ashes.

After a while of training – not on Neji, of course – the girl went to shower and then rest.

- - -

Shizune, on her side, was simply working on paperwork along with the Hokage. It was quite the boring morning though, as the lady was really looking forward to tonight, and had to sign things for Tsunade. That was going to be really long.

- - -

It was now noon, everyone in Konoha was fully awake and Lee was finally done, with a high score of six thousand laps. Sakura and Ino were at the hospital, guess why. Hinata was sleeping, resting for more training which would ensue in the afternoon. Naruto was _still _practicing to use his heightened senses, and Shizune was about to take a walk during her lunch break. The woman walked in no particular direction, untill an idea struck her: _Why not buy Naruto-kun some ramen! He's going to be happy, and then who knows... maybe he'll get the idea, maybe he'll understand that I want to be...his._ The kunoichi smiled inwardly, as she headed towards the Ichiraku ramen stand. Once there, she was greeted by the usual old man that owned the shop.

"Excuse me, sir, I came here for an order from Naruto, I guess you know what are his favorite, just make three bowls of them please, to bring. I'll pay you."

The man nodded and prepared the bowls. Once they were ready, Shizune took the bowls, wrapped in paper, along with a pair of chop sticks and started leaping from rooftop to rooftop untill she reached the now-wrecked team 7 training grounds. Apparently Naruto had developped new jutsu's and had also been trying them out _several times_, which proved to be rather...err, devastating.

"Shugokitsune: Murasakihanashou!(1)" She heard someone – most likely Naruto – yell.

A huge burst of purple chakra flew past her like an EMP blast, knocking her a few feet back, blowing trees and rocks to pieces on its way. One thing was quite awkward though, why hadn't she even been scratched? Oh well, She would have to ask him. Staring at the young chuunin, she walked closer. Not losing focus off his forehead protector for even a mere minute. Shizune slowly walked closer, and closer, and closer, only to be startled by the man that was now standing behind her, a hand on her shoulder.

She blushed.

"Naruto! You haven't been doing this all day... have you?"

He nodded cheerfully, which caused the girl to sweat drop, blush even more and then tackle him to the ground playfully.

"Shizune-teme," he said playfully, "What the hell was that for, ne?"

She just grinned and pounced on him yet again, this time 'tickling' his neck. Naruto watched in a strange manner that suggested 'what is this?' causing his friend to stare at him blankly, eyes as sharp and small as peas, mouth shaped into a tiny 'o' and a rather huge sweat drop in the back of her head.

"Naruto, baka, you're supposed to laugh, it's supposed to _tickle!_"

He stared back at her for a few moments, before getting what she actually meant, and starting to laugh in a rather forceful tone. The kimono wearing woman pounded his head with a wooden mace which seemingly came out of nowhere, as a loud 'BAKA' issued trough the fields. All in all, they were having quite a bit of fun. What both of them weren't aware of though, was that Hinata was actually spying on them having their little play-wrestle thing, and it was making her rather jealous, actually, even pissed off. _Shizune-sama! You're not getting away with that! _The young genin grinned inwardly, as she stepped down the trees and began walking towards them, feigning and innocent and unaware look.

"Err, n-N-Naruto-kun, I...w..would you...I mean... w-want to..t-_trainwithme_?"

The fighting abruptly ended, Naruto half laying on Shizune, who was blushing and looking away in a rather embarrassed way, though that wasn't Naruto's case.

"Oi! Hinata-chan! Sure you can, I was just practicing this new, awesome jutsu kyuu-- erm, someone thought me, I'd gladly show you if you like!"

The jounin girl wasn't blushing anymore, rather, she was dumbfounded, rethinking what Naruto had _almost _said. _Kyuubi? Why would that demon teach him anything? Oh wait! Could that explain why he sees me even though he has his forehead protector covering his eyes? Then it would make sense I guess! _She smiled softly as she watched Hinata turn crimson, was it jealousy or embarrassment, that she couldn't tell.

Hinata suddenly, although clumsily walked up to Naruto, handing out her hand for him to take it. Now that explained the girl's tint.

_How...am I going to keep up with that Shizune girl, she's not shy at all, she's much more mature, and her body is so much better than mine is, I stand no chance...and ugh..._ She fainted, Hinata, fainted.

"Hinata-chan? Hinata-chan? Hi-na-ta! Are you alright?" Naruto looked rather panicked.

"Baka," was the black haired girl's reply,"She's just fainted. You should bring her home, then you can come meet me at the Hokage's office, ask Tsunade for me, she'll lead you. Naruto nodded, grabbing Hinata bridal style, and running at a speed never matched before, heading toward the white eyed beauty's house. He laid her down and knocked on the door. A few moments later, he still had no answer, so he decided to do something he might have regretted later. Naruto entered the house and laid her down on the first thing in sight: The couch. She looked cold, so he decided to take his coat off and put it around her, but to his surprise, it wouldn't take off. Ah well, he forgot about that and quickly aimed to find something to cover up the poor girl. He finally manged to find a blanket and set it around her. The blonde boy ruffled Hinata's hair and left the house as quickly and quietly as when he came in.

- - -

"Tsunade-sama! I've been signing these papers all day long, I'm bored already! And...and..I'm..." she blushed, but continued, "...expecting Naruto here soo--" knocking could be heard at the door.

Tsunade nodded her in an approving mother-like manner, and went back to her usual work. Naruto came into view, along with seemingly cold ramens, which were wrapped up in the same cloth sheet as earlier.

"Shizune!" he said, with his tradmark voice. "I believe you dropped the surprise you had brought for me, so I guess here it is." he grinned foxily while she blushed furiously, how could she be so careless?

"Arigatou, err, I mean, thanks for bringing them back but they are yours" she replied hastily.

"But they're cold! I'm going to pay you since that gift was wasted!" he said as he took out his frog wallet.

"Iie! Don't pay me, it's a gif--" she was shut tight by Naruto's index's firm pressure against her lips.

"I said, I pay you back, unless you want to fight me and see for yourself!" he taunted joyfully.

"Oh, I think I'll be fine then..." she smirked. "but there is a 400 percent tax on them."

Naruto fell straight to the floor, with a loud, audible thud.

"No way, you tricked me! You'll pay!" he grinned.

Naruto made many hand seals, feigning a super jutsu of some kind.

"Run-Like-A-Fool-And-Don't-Turn-Back no jutsu!" he yelled, bursting out into laughter and starting to run across the Hokage's office, whom didn't even bother looking up from her work.

_Ugh, _Shizune thought, _I can't believe I'm actually playing silly games with him...Oh wait, who knows how this could turn out! _She smirked, and made up a fake jutsu as well.

"Catch-The-Brat no jutsu!" she roared, chasing after the boy who's trench coat flew around behind him as he ran in circles around the Hokage's desk.

They both ran at each other like that, all around town, disturbing pretty much everyone and getting stares from people, after all, it wasn't usual in Konoha, a ninja town – one of the strongest – to see a _jounin _and the so called demon-kid chasing each other and once in a while landing a playful tackle on each other. Even less when there was a pig following them around and oinking as it ran.

It was finally after a few more hours, and it was now rather late in the evening, that the two children-like shinobi's stopped running around, as Shizune was exhausted and Naruto just wanted – for some odd reason he couldn't understand – to be beside her. They sat in the forest, leaning against some trees, and then the sweaty girl began to assault him with her questions.

"Why were you talking about Kyuubi lending you powers? What about your forehead protector? Does the kyuubi thing answer why you see tro--"

"Shizune-chan, calm down, please," he said, calmer than usual. "First of all, yes, Kyuubi lended me many powers, including heightened senses, and that jutsu you saw me using. That explains why I can see 'trough' my forehead protector, and why I hear so well and everything."

She calmly nodded him to continue, laying against him and pulling him to her. Naruto blushed slightly, but kept going.

"I also remember you asking why people hated me like that, but you should know, it's because of Kyuubi." he nearly whispered, looking down, which he shouldn't have.

Naruto found himself looking straight at her chest, although it took him a few seconds to realize.

"Kyaa! Shizune! Sorry! It's not what it seems like! I was not star--"

The girl blushed slightly, before answering him:

"Baka, I know, keep talkin please." she said as she looked him in the eyes.

And so they talked like that untill around midnight or so, before laying down and staring at the skies, where they eventually both fell into a comfortable sleep, holding each other in a warm embrace.

- - -

The next morning, Naruto woke up, eyes still closed, he could feel a soft pillow-like thing under his head. _Soft...com..for...ta...ble...I don't want to wake up. _He inwardly pouted to himself. Much to his disliking though, the 'soft pillow' shifted, causing him to recall everything, talking to Shizune, her holding him, laying next to each other, staring at the stars...and, well, falling asleep. The boy slowly opened his eyes, afraid of what would happen. As he looked up, he realized his head was laying on her lap, and he could see her fishnet undergraments from the fold of her kimono. He pushed the thought away, quickly attempting to stand up, only to be miraculously held in place by Shizune's unexpected strength. Despite his efforts, he was held in place and had to spend the whole morning in her grip, untill he realized today was his promotion to chuunin. The boy panicked, softly trying to wake the girl he used as a pillow, but resigning to screaming as she didn't seem to want to hear him.

"Shizune! It's my chuunin promotion today! I'm going to be late! Hayaku! Wake upWake upWake up!" he yelled, still panicking.

She slowly stirred, and sad, looking at his head causually. He looked back up at her from his soft spot he had grown used to.

"Ikimashou!" she said, standing up at an insane speed, making Naruto land flat to the ground.

They both ran off towards the village, intent on preparing for his promotion.

* * *

_Okay, I have fixed a few mistakes when rereading it, and I have also added the meaning, which I had completely forgotten about, my bad!_

Shugokitsune: Murasakihanashou Guardian Fox: Purple petal strike. (no, I wasn't consuming anything illegal when I came up with that. :P )


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Shizune and Naruto walked along the main street, heading towards the Hokage's office. They had just come back from the black haired girl's house. Her hair was still wet from the shower she had taken, and she was dressed in a formal uniform, while he was still wearing the now usual trench coat, black shirt and black pants. They hadn't bothered going to his home, and so had headed right to the office, where they would be getting information on what would happen, as well as a lesson to formality for Naruto, who was still very immature, although less than before.

As they approached the office, they were seemingly getting stares from everyone. Naruto apparently didn't have a clue why, and he seemed so accustomed to it that it didn't even appear to bother him. Shizune, though she had no idea why either, was rather worried, as she immagined why it could be. _Is it that I'm walking next to him? Or maybe it's just normal... wait, it can't be normal, even though it's usual, maybe it's-- _Her thoughts were cut short when she heard a kid among the people who stared say:

"Mommy! Why is that lady walking with the forbidden boy?" a little girl asked , pulling on the skirt of her mother.

"Yumi, darling, sheesh!" the mother quickly answered as she put a hand on her daughter's mouth.

The little girl looked rather confused, but her mother quickly dragger her away. Shizune, who now bore an upset look on her face stood there for a few seconds, looking at where the little was moments ago, seemingly lost in her thoughts. _Why... Naruto, why must everyone hate you? _Her thoughts were once again cut when the blond boy's strong, yet soft, hand gripped hers. She looked at him with watery eyes.

"Let's go, Shizune! We'll be late if we don't hurr--"

Naruto looked at her, question marks in his pupils.

"What's wrong Shizu?" he said kindly.

"Naruto...I'm sorry...I can't be there at your promotion, I need to think things trough..." she sobbed lightly.

"It's okay Shizune-chan, I understand, it's because of kyuubi, isn't it?" he asked worriedly

She shook her head no. "No... that's not why, I'll explain to you one day, Naruto..." she whispered, before running out of view.

The dark boy looked hurt, his head slightly tilted downwards, and his hands in his pockets as he slowly closed in the distance between the office and him. The sky was gray right now, rain threatening to drop at any moment. Everything was not so well anymore, things were seemingly returning back to the usual. Naruto walked into the office, to have everything explained by Tsunade.

- - -

After half an hour of talking, the boy walked out of the office, headed to the Konoha stadium. He was almost there when it began to rain, a heavy and silent, windless rain. He walked inside the stadium, only to be greeted by really few people. Among the crowd, he could recognize most of his friends, even Sasuke – which Naruto had forgiven, thanks to his great heart – and Sakura, who was of course sitting with Ino, eying Sasuke dreamily. Naruto reluctantly stepped on the stage, awaiting the introduction to be made.

- - -

Shizune was laying down on her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, rethinking everything that had happened in that short period of time. She felt really guilty and ashamed, although she knew she shouldn't, she did feel everything was because of her. Even though it was still only afternoon, she fell asleep there, in her expansive clothings, laid diagonally on the bed, hands on her face.

- - -

Sasuke was seated casually in the first rank benches. Although he wouldn't admit it, he considered Naruto as a friend, and didn't hold any grudge against him for bringing him back. He was still jealous of Naruto's 'easily' – or so he thought – acquired power, but he was actually quite happy about being back to Konoha and not being marked a missing-nin. The cold boy was also beginning to get out of his shell, but not that much. He was barely ready to admit that he was happy being back to Konoha, that the cursed seal made him do things he wished he wouldn't have done. Now that he thought about it though, he might have to ask Naruto for help in killing Itachi.

His attention was diverted towards Naruto when Tsunade began to speak. Sasuke could feel the two girls staring at him, and he just ignored them, after he had learned what Sakura had done to his friend, he found himself even less attracted to her.

"...promoted to chuunin! Congratulations Naruto!" he heard Tsunade say loudly and proudly, handing Naruto a vest, which the boy gladly put on.

Almost everyone applauded at the boy, except the two rival girls. Even him, which the girl found rather weird, but did as if nothing had happened. _Why are those two so obsessed by me? Someone help! _Sasuke's inward child screamed, hoping he wouldn't go unheard. Sasuke's eyes happened to meet those of a familiar Hyuuga girl which he had seen at the chuunin exams. _Hinata. _He thought, unconsciously smiling warmly. He saw her blush as she looked at Naruto. _How can he not see she loves him! And she's such a pretty person. _He thought again, blushing slightly, not that he knew though. Sakura and Ino on her side were wondering what was happening to their dream crush, only to find no explaination.

After the promotion, Naruto sadly walked outside, not having seen Shizune for that long period of time had made him feel like he was missing part of him, although he couldn't figure out why he felt that, it confused him. He was walking head down, looking at his feet, when he bumped into his greatest rival.

"Sasuke-teme! What the hell do you want?" he asked brutally.

Sasuke frowned, looking at him quietly, before beginning to walk besides the boy without answering.

"omoi wa! Answer me, bibi-chan!"

Sasuke clenched his fist, although he had no intention of hurting the boy.

"Naruto, do you hate me?" he asked sadly.

Naruto did a strange face.

"What's wrong Sasuke? Why would you care if I hated you? You're just a cold, heartless bastard!"

Naruto realized his mistake moments later, when he saw the said 'bastard' turn his back to him and quietly walk towards an alleyway. The blond boy's reflex was to grip on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Oi, teme, I don't hate you, I'm just pissed you ran away!"

"..."

"C'mon Sasuke, If I hated you I wouldn't have brought you back, and I wouldn't have let you live either."

Sasuke frowned once again. "Naruto, you brought me back because Sakura asked you, and you've changed now, as I see..."

Naruto looked confused.

"Maybe my clothing has changed, but I'm still me, the number one idiot ninja, as you would say."

Sasuke kicked a can that was laying around.

"Naruto, I'm sorry for all I've done, I was just blinded by my hatred towards Itachi, will you forgive me?" he asked, his voice softened, his feelings flowing freely.

"Sasuke... you've changed as well, and I've already forgiven you."

The Uchiha prodigy smiled, not that Naruto could see this though, and nor did he have to.

An awkward silence followed, until Sasuke uneasily spoke.

"Ano... Naruto... You know that Hinata girl loves you, right?"

Naruto looked at Sasuke dumbly.

"What? No, what do you mean?"

Sasuke sweat dropped, although evilly grinned inside. He wouldn't have to get Naruto away from her, although he knew the girl loved Naruto, so he had to find a way to get _her _away from the blond.

They both walked alongside peacefully, unlike usual, not insulting themselves or fighting each other. People stared at the boys in either awe, surprise or jealousy, seeing that the Uchiha boy was hanging with the demon. They went to the Ichiraku, had ramen and went back to the training grounds.

- - -

The two boys were standing next to a shattered tree, Sasuke contemplating Naruto's purple chakra. _He has definitely become even stronger! _The sharingan user found himself into somewhat of an anger state, although he forbid himself from being jealous, or even mad at Naruto, not anymore.

"Naruto, why is it that you have your forehead protector on your eyes?"

No answer.

"Naruto?"

Sasuke saw the boy staring away from him.

"What's wrong, Naruto?"

Naruto slowly turned around to Sasuke, frowning visibly. He felt a pain deep in his stomach, he felt as though he had lied, broken his own promises.

"Sasuke, I've been hiding something from you for, oh, so long." he said, in a hurt voice.

The Kyuubi vessel brought his hands to the back of his head, under his long hair, which bore crimson reflects, and untied the headband, bringing it into his hands, down to his stomach, pressing it against him tightly. Sasuke stared into Naruto's possessed eyes, and flinched, they bore such a killer intent that it scared even him. Red orbs with black slits, projecting the image of a demon – literally – a demon of such power that it could have most likely destroyed anything with one swipe of the hand.

"Sasuke, you might not have noticed when we fought at the valley of death, but I'm a demon."

Sasuke just stared, speechless.

"... I am the holder of _Kyuubi_."

The uchiha now looked frozen.

"K-..Kyuubi? It...It's in you?"

Naruto smirked.

"Actually, I've merged with it sort of, now."

The boy face faulted, not believing what he was hearing.

"So...th..that's why everyone hates you?"

Naruto nodded.

"And that's why you were hiding your eyes, because they are so terrifying?"

Naruto nodded.

"And you have tolerated me all this time,"

Naruto nodded.

"When I pierced your lung, thinking I was way stronger than you--"

Naruto nodded.

"You were going easy on me?"

Naruto nodded again, this time adding:

"Yes, because you are my best friend, my first friend to be exact, Sasuke."

The Uchiha fell to his knees.

"I'm... sorry..."

Naruto nodded a last time, before walking off to his home.

- - -

Once at home, he tried opening the door, only to find himself locked outside. He looked for a key in all of his pockets, only to find none. _Kuso, where'd I put this key? _Naruto was looking everywhere, panicked.

"Boy, this is not your house anymore, you've gotta--"

Naruto had turned around, and hadn't put his headband back on. The older man suddenly went blank, before subtly running away. The blond boy shrugged it off, putting his forehead protector back over his eyes, before beginning to wander around aimlessly, now homeless.

He smelled a presence. Being careful to act as though he didn't know, he focused, and discerned a short girl, filled with shyness and _awe._ The worst in that was that it wasn't caused by him being amazing, but rather by _passion. _Naruto smelled carefully, recognizing it was Hinata that had been following.

The young girl was going to tell Naruto she loved him, although not yet, no, it could wait. She was following from about 30 yards behind, thinking he didn't know, how much of a fool she was, though.

Naruto headed to a small and creepy back alley and crouched next to a pile of boxes, which noted 'fragile' and some also noted 'this side up'. He, to Hinata, was seemingly lost in thoughts, wondering about something, or rather thinking. Everything seemed fine, she hadn't been seen, now she could pretend to be walking by.

As she got closer to him, ready to speak, He interrupted her. "Hello, Hinata, what do you want?"

His voice was unusually cold, his blond hair seemingly taken over by their crimson tint. She shivered at that sight, before blushing lightly.

"Naruto-k..kun...I...w-wanted..t..to...talk... to y-you." barely whispered an uneasy Hinata.

"What about it? Go ahead, talk to me."

She frowned, disappointed, heart broken, that wasn't the always laughing, always happy Naruto she used to know anymore, no, he was so cold, so..._oh wait, he's just lost his home, and he's got nowhere to live. _She walked up to him, gathering all her courage, barely managing to hug him.

"Naruto-kun...y-you... ...I saw what the-they did t-to you, I'm s-sorry about your... h-home.."

Naruto faked his best smile. "It's alright, Hinata, it's not like it was any great there either, people would often throw things at me, break things in my house..."

"...but now I can wander whereever I want, and maybe even Shizune-_chan _will let me live with _her_."

The words caused Hinata to grow a furious jealousy inside. He had called Shizune '-chan', he had mentioned living with _her. _Hinata was getting both angry and upset. She took a deep breath and asked him what she feared the most.

"Naruto...you...y-you love...Shizune-sa..san, n-n..ne...?"

Oh poor Hinata, if she had known Naruto had no idea what 'to love' was. To him it was the same as liking, only a _bit _more, nothing too huge, he thought.

"Of course, she's everything to me, I wouldn't be here if she hadn't supported me at the hospital!" said a grinning Naruto.

Oh, but he had meant he saw her as a mother, for to him, everything had nothing to do with love, lust, need and desire. Although that was not how Hinata took it.

She burst into light sobs as she ran away, towards nowhere in particular, only intending to run.

Naruto was in the alley, still next to the pile of box, wondering why there were so many of them. His curiosity was indeed equaled by his misfortune.

The boy opened a box, only to be greeted by a disgusting sight, which caused him to jump back, tripping on a wire.

_What the?_

He had no time to really think, for his head was met by a big, fat, imposing trunk coming at him with an incredible speed.

**WHAM**

Naruto flew backwards a few feet before, much to his displeasing, tripping once more on yet another wire.

_Gee... _he thought angrily.

This time though, he was met by nearly a ton of wooden planks falling on him.

Squashed under the deadly weight, he struggled, to no avail. He ended up giving up, falling asleep 'comfortably' under the 'five' star 'bed'.

- - -

Sasuke was walking, still, slowly checking out the town he hadn't seen for so long. He looked around, and let out a sigh of relief, being back was actually good. Supposedly, Kakashi had altered the seal's composition, so Orochimaru wouldn't be able to influence the boy, but that made Sasuke worry, still. What if the seal itself, was the thing influencing him? What if Kakashi had messed up, and it wouldn't do a thing, or worse, what if it granted the snake sannin even more power? This was getting very worrying for him. He was deeply lost in thoughts, not paying attention to where he was headed, until someone bumped into him, causing him to fall over, startled.

"Wha-what the?" he yelled at the form laying on the ground, until he realized he should be helping the person.

"Are you alright?"

The form looked up at him, it was...

"Hinata?" he said in pure amazement.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" he said, with a caring voice he had never used before.

Hinata looked him into the eyes, crying uncontrollably.

"Na..." she sniffed. "...ruto..."

"What about him?"

"He...loves...Shizune!" the crying Hyuuga said as she began to flee from Sasuke, who causually gripped her shoulder.

"E-eh?" was her scared answer, as he looked trough her eyes, into her soul. - or so she felt -

He stared at her white eyes for a few minutes. An awkward silence was going on. Hinata was confused, Sasuke was in deep debate.

_Hug her. No. Yes. No. Yes. I said no. And I say yes. Ughh!_

He pulled her into a tight hug, getting a soft moan from her, who was just startled and even more confused.

"It's going to be alright, forget about Naruto..."

She began crying louder, her cries sounded like the ones of a little child crying because he lost his ice cream cone, causing the Uchiha boy to sweat drop. He rocked her back and forth, trying to get her to calm her cries down, which he somehow successfully did.

She gripped around his neck, head rested on his shoulder, sobbing quietly as he patted her on the back.

"Let's go somewhere warmer, it's getting cold outside.

- - -

Shizune was still sleeping, a peaceful and dreamless slumber, dried tears on her cheeks. Well, that is, until a loud noise could be heard, door bursting open, then loud steps coming towards her room. That had half awoke her, she was now on guard, faking sleep.

**Bang, Clang, Crash.**

Sounds of breaking glass and cauldrons falling to the floor. She rushed to the kitchen only to be greeted by a extremely wounded Naruto, who had a smile plastered across his face.

"Shizune, I'm sorry for earlier today, and I'm sorry for everything I broke, I'll pay, I promise."

She smiled, putting a hand around his and her free one on his headband.

"What happened, Naruto-kun?"

"Oh umm..."

-Flashback-

_Naruto woke up, under a ton of wood. He looked at it dully, then realized he was aching everywhere. He had to use his rasengan to get out of that, and so he did. The boy then stood, trying to invoke Kyuubi to heal his wound, but the fox didn't answer, something was wrong. Ah well, it didn't matter right now, he had to find somewhere to go._

_Sasuke? No, he had no idea where the boy lived._

_Sakura, no way, she was not his friend anymore._

_Ino, same._

_Lee, would assault him with questions, and he didn't feel like it._

_Kiba, not the dog smell, please._

_Okay, only choice left he had, Shizune!_

_And so he recklessly walked, stumbling all over the place, making his way slowly to the jounin's house._

- - -

"I see" said the girl, removing Naruto's forehead protector.

She stared blankly at him. _Oh god, his eyes... handsome._

On his side, he was also staring, but he was blushing. She had her kimono untied, most likely due to shifting while her sleep, and he could see, well, her undergarments, but to Naruto, that was a first.

She looked at him for a moment, before realizing.

She blushed as well. "Sorry!" she said, with a hand shrugging the back of her head, her eyes trying to look innocent. _I'll get you, Naruto-kun! _She tied her kimono hastily.

"Ne, Shizune?"

"What, Naruto-kun?"

"Tell me how I fell that day, kudasai?"

She smiled slightly, nodded and so they spent the night talking and having him figure out what loving someone was. Weirdly, all the feelings she had described, he felt them toward a certain person who had the same hair color as Shizune, the same eyes, the same clothings, the same height, the same voice, the same name...

He asked her to teach him love, managing to get her to blush furiously, and finally managing to make her promise to show him someday in the close future.

* * *

A bit longer than I had intended, but yerr, I hope you guys enjoyed it. 

A note: No, there will NOT be any NaruSasu in this fic. They are just developping something called real friendship, I'm sure most of you know what that is... else.. well... go out and get some friends:) Anyway, also, I'm intending on including a slight SasuHina in the fic, as you might have noticed, BUT, only if I get reviews telling me I should, else I won't include it... (or perhaps I will, depending on how I feel when I'm writing.) Feedback please 3 -nodnod-

**Okay, I have to clarify why Naruto hadn't seen her clothing, he can feel things, that means he doesn't see trough his forehead, but rather feels thing, therefor he doesn't see how things look. I know it might seem messed up, but bear with me :)**


	5. Chapter 5

_Sorry for the long delay, And since only one person asked for 'no SasuHina'... I won't do any (that one person was the majority anyway :P). Also, I'd like you guys to suggest titles for this story. If I do get suggestions, I'll choose the one I appreciate the most and give credit as due. The title would then be announced in chapter 6, and changed for chapter 7.

* * *

_

**Chapter 5**

Once again, dawn shone upon the peaceful city that was Konoha, everyone who was awake this early in the morning were doing their usual taks without bothering another person. Skies still dark, with the dim light of the sun starting to show itself. Among these early people, were Naruto and Shizune, walking next to each other happily, along with Tonton, who was oinking silently. Sasuke was at the training grounds, and as it implied, was training. Hinata was trying to build her courage for Naruto, she still hadn't given up on him. Well, she had, but she at least wanted to be close friends. Rock Lee was doing his daily loads-of-laps jogging around Konoha and that was about it, everyone else was either sleeping or busy in their houses for whatever reasons.

Shizune looked at Naruto from the corner of her eyes, he had seemingly gotten even more mature, and apparently happier now that he knew what love was. She was still wondering one thing though, did he really feel that towards her? But she knew it wouldn't take long untill she found out, so she just let it slide and kept looking at him, eyes scanning his clothes, at chest height.

"Why are you staring at me like that, Shizu-chan?" pouted Naruto, his head still tilted towards the sky: the way he had been since they began walking.

"How..How'd you know?" she answered, in a surprised voice.

"I also know you're blushing now, Shizune!" said the boy, still not looking.

She was, indeed, blushing. "Naruto, answer me!"

"Senses, I guess."

"This.. this is truely amazing" she said, now forcing herself to look straight ahead.

The boy just grinned, forcing his hand into Shizune's free one, interlacing their fingers. They walked in silence except for the occasional oinks from Tonton. The couple was headed to the Konoha forest, happily staring at each other every so often. Shizune was looking around the place, not that she hadn't been there before, but it was still a very, very beautiful place. As she was contemplating the huge trees and small furry animals trying to hide in them, she had stopped without noticing, although it didn't take long before Naruto pulled her out of it, literally, that was.

The blond boy pulled his partner's hand along with him, whispering something almost inaudible into her ear.

"I have to show you something, Shizu-chan!"

She just nodded afirmatively, not sure of what it was.

They made their way trough the forest, hopping from branch to branch, at a speed a normal human could never even come close to reproducing. It was this way for almost an hour. Naruto was dashing ahead, followed by the black haired girl and her pig, towards a place only him knew.

- - -

_Hokage's office, 9:00:00AM_

"Hokage-sama!"

The young-looking old woman slowly raised her head from her desk, drool visible on the papers she was working on.

_5 minutes later_

"Hai? What is it? Quickly, I have work to do." Tsunade said, apparently angered from being woken up.

"A...Akatsuki! They have sent a message for you, mentioning it was capital importance, and if you didn't read it and do as it said, Konoha would be... D...des..destroyed!" said the chuunin standing before her, a letter at hands.

The woman took it, before opening it up and reading.

_Hello, Konoha's Hokage, whatever your name is. We have seen Naruto, we have seen him merge with the Kyuubi._

_What? Since when has that boy merged with the demon? Oh damn, where is he now?_, she had to talk to him right away, but first, the letter.

_We expect you to deliver him to us, along with whomever he judges qualified to go along with. We actually have a plan, which consists mainly of Naruto, it is not meant to rule over anything, nor to destroy Konoha. Actually, Akatsuki has changed now, since Orochimaru tried to take over us, we have vowed to destroy him. No, that doesn't mean we will ally with Konoha, we would like to **borrow **Naruto's power for this effect, though, so if you want to keep Konoha alive, send us Naruto, along with anyone he wants to go along with. This mission is A-rank, maybe S, depending on what goes on, and he will be paid triple, if not quadruple the worth of it. You have seven days to let us know your answer, past that delay, we will consider it a no, and therefore destroy the leaf village._

_-Itachi, Kisame, and all the other Akatsuki members you do not know of._

Oh. Now this didn't look good. Naruto was called off work for yet 2 months and what, 27 days?

Tsunade was massaging her temples with her index fingers, trying her best to figure out a way to solve this immediate problem.

_First of all, where's that little kid... Naruto, don't have me worry like that, geez!_

_Then, what will I do about that?_

"Kakashi," she called.

The man magically poofed in front of her desk, his copy of Icha-Icha Paradisu at hand.

"Find Naruto back, you could employ Neji's Byakugan in that case, but I rather you not, although, do as you wish, this is a very urgent matter." she finished.

The half-masked man let a grin form under his mask, before poofing again, as magically as before, leading him out of the office.

- - -

Naruto and Shizune were laying down next to each other, hand in hand, the other one laid above them, in an almost symmetrical manner, staring at the morning sky, on the edge of a beautiful lake, reflecting the still dark blue sky in the small waves caused by the slowly blowing wind.

"Naruto, this is wonderful, you know?" she let out dreamily, her head tilted to look at him in the eyes.

"Really?" he teased.

"Of course! Baka!"

He smiled slightly, being with her made him feel happy, sad, angry, confused and complete, all at once. And from the explaination she had given him on what love was, this was exactly the same same same feeling. He now felt a need for her, a need to be in her arms, to hold her close to him, and to never leave her alone, it was frightening but beautiful at the same time, it was every immaginable opposites at the same time, that, to him, was love.

He crawled closer to her, scared of being rejected, unsure of himself as this was his first relationship ever. However, he was relieved when she just turned on her side to face him completely, gripping him in a warm embrace which he had never felt before.

"Shizune..." he said, totally speechless.

She didn't answer, her lips opened slightly, slowly moving towards the younger boy's lips, which were open as well, though in confusion. When they were just half an inch from their first kiss, a dreadful thing happened. Kakashi's head popped up from a bush, looking at them with a seemingly plain expression. Besides him was Neji, who looked rather displeased by the sight.

"Oi, you two, rent a room next time." the masked jounin said.

Naruto looked quite angry, "Hey! That's my secret place!" he said, with a slight blush when he realized what this implied.

"OoooOoOoooOo" was curious Kakashi's answer.

"And what have you been _doing _here?"

Shizune blushed madly, leading Kakashi to believe... things.

"matte yo, don't tell me you've..." Kakashi trailed off, suggesting a freak smirk under his mask.

It didn't last long though, because when Shizune knocked him, he seemed to have totally lost consciousness. Neji sweat dropped, knowing it was now his duty to explain what in the seven layers of hell was going on. He took a calm breath, before speaking up.

"Naruto, you are requested for a mission by the Hokage, I do not know the details, Kakashi did, so now please, let's make this short and head back to town."

The blond boy frowned, the took Shizune up, bridal style, for show off, or to be romantic? He didn't know, and it didn't matter.

"Ladies should not walk all the time." he said, as he grinned, causing her to blush.

Neji took Kakashi on his back, and so the made their way to the Hokage's office, once again.

- - -

_Hokage's Office, 11:30:56AM._

"Hokage-sama!" said the same chuunin as earlier.

No reply.

"Ho-ka-ge-sa-ma!" he yelled, causing him to suddenly fly _trough _the ceiling and up into the sky, to the point where he became a shining star.

Another guard, chuunin as well, apparently came out of nowhere, to take the place of the now disappeared one. The said guard walked up to the desk of the now awake Tsunade.

"Naruto is here." he said, before walking away, happy he wasn't the one to have to wake her up this time.

"Ah, Naruto, you have a miss--"

"Baa-chan! I'm on a break!" he said, himself flying straight into the wall, although being caught by Shizune.

Tsunade took the letter and handed it to Naruto, which read it. The boy suddenly yelled something the whole village could have heard.

"NANI?"

"Yes, Naruto," said the Hokage, "You have to."

"Okay, I will, if Shizune comes with me, maybe Rock Lee as well, and..." he hesitated, "Sasuke-teme."

The blond woman sighed, nodding and then telling him to go pack his things.

"We will have you depart in three weeks, as of now, enjoy your vacations while you still can."

Naruto sweat dropped at that sentence, along with Shizune.

"You are to tell Lee and Sasuke that they are _forced _to come along with you, if we want Konoha to live."

Naruto suddenly didn't feel like bringing them along anymore, but he had to, leaving _alone _with a girl would only get him more trouble, as he figured Kakashi now knew there was something between them.

The rest of the day was quite boring, Naruto had told Sasuke, which agreed, as long as he could train with him, then, Lee had gladly agreed, saying this was an opportunity to rivalize him. To summarize, convincing them to come along hadn't been as hard as he thought it would be. Now was the time where he was going to go to his... wait, he didn't have a home anymore, and hadn't asked Shizune if he could stay at hers. Of course, that one night, but that didn't mean he would be allowed to stay again. _Ah well, better not worry about that. _He thought, trying to be cheerful about everything, although failing miserably. He walked slowly, almost reluctantly, but still, he had to...no, forget that. He turned around, his courage crumbling to nothingness. Jumping from roof top to roof top, untill he was at the edge of the city. He had chosen to sleep outside, away from all his troubles. As he laid down, trying to find a comfortable position in which he could fall alseep, in his world of dreams and perfection. Anyway, that was untill he heard a noise, nothing close, and not the usual things he could hear daily with his ehanced hearing, no, it was the sound of Hinata's voice, talking to someone, apparently the person she was talking to was quite strong, from their chakra signature, but that was besides the point, what she was saying was what had drawn his attention.

"I...I just w-want to be friends with Na...Naruto-kun" she said.

"Well, you shouldn't be afraid to talk to him, he's a really good person, and if you don't act shy, he'll actually talk." that was... _Sasuke? Helping someone? Ah well, everyone changes eventually. _

"I..I know... I-I'll try..."

"Don't worry, Hinata."

The voices disapeared. It was a mere moment before every single thing the blond boy had said came rushing back to his head. He had been so cold, to her, who was just trying to become friends with him, maybe more, judging from the way she reacted when he said he loved Shizune. Naruto felt soiled, he felt guilty of making other people afraid. Never in his life had it been that way, it was usually the opposite, people would be mean and cold to him, and he know all too well how it must feel for Hinata being rejected by the one she cherished. At least she still wanted to be friends, she had not attempted anything silly or given up hope on ever talking to him. That was better than nothing, there was still a way for him to be forgiven, and he had to, he definately had to cheer her up, be her friend. Yeah, he had.. to... Naruto had already fallen asleep, being as tired as the young boy was.

_Night, sleep, a moment where soul detatches from the body, roaming freely. Soul, an entity in which humans believe, debated either it is real or just a belief, it is said to be the main element of consciousness in a human being. It is also known that, souls detatching from the body in the sleep leads to a world, or rather dimension, as believed, where you can do anything you please, from flying trough the blue sky, to living thousand millions of miles below earth level. Sky, also known as freedom, a unique way to be free, free from gravity and restraints of the ground. Freedom, the essence, next to money, most sought after by Man, the reason science exists. Money, powering science, corrupting even the wisest, purest soul the world has ever bore, leading to killing and all those things. Killing, bringing one's death, either by killing one's self or by killing another. Death, the ultimate end, freedom, prison, no matter how you see it, that is where everything ends, where everything goes, where everything existant is vowed to meet all together. Loneliness, death causes it, it hurts, it rapes your inner self, confuses your senses and makes you feel guilty, or raging. Rage blinds the judgment, blinds the line of thought, drives one to do foolish things._

Naruto broke out in sweat, waking up faster than ever, what kind of freak dream was that? Since when had he thought so hard, now this was really getting to him. He looked around nervously, still replaying the whole scan he had done in his sleep. Honestly, to him, it looked more like a deep reflection, so unlike him, was that Kyuubi affecting his mind? Since when had the fox felt all of that, being tormented that much was unbelievable to Naruto, even in his worst moments, he had never seen that far, he had never bothered reflecting on a past happy moment to the point where he would turn it down into another reason to feel hated.

It was now quite early in the morning, he guessed, and it was getting lighter, the sun was slowly awakening upon the landscape. Apparently, Shizune hadn't come after him, or if she had, hadn't found him. He stood up, well, at least, he tried to. Naruto was held in place by something he hadn't noticed earlier. Indeed, Shizune _had _followed him, and she _had _found him, and was now holding his arm tightly, hugging it against her chest. Naruto, of course, blushed furiously, and after a moment's hesitation, sat next to her half-awake form.

"Na...ru...to...ku...n" she mumbled sleepily.

He blushed. "What?"

"Let's sleep...a... more...I'm tired." came her quick reply, as she pulled on his arm tighter, forcing him to hug her.

He nodded positively, and laid his head against her shoulder, in a semi-sitting position, this being the first time they slept trough the morning, untill the afternoon, happy in each other's embrace.

* * *

Awwwww kawaii :D, naw seriously, I know it's getting more and more fluffy, though I have some kind of plot going on. I need you guys to tell me if there should or shouldn't be lemons in this fiction. Also, a few notes now.

I feel my writting's (not grammar, well maybe) been getting bad lately, either because I'm trying to force it.. or because I'm not in the mood, tell me, and since this is the fifth chapter, I don't really mind flames anymore.

Yet another thing. This will become fully ShizuNaru at some point later, Not spoiling anything, but I can tell you there's going to be a slight NaruHina thing in Shizune's back for a little while.

Also, as a last note before I wish you all a** merry X-mas and a happy mew yeer :D**, I have never made a general plot for this story, it's all like: -sits, thinks for a few seconds- -looks at keyboard, puts some random music- -writes- so, if sometimes I contradict myself in two chapters (maybe because of the time delay between writting each) tell me and I'll correct it! Wew! End of noties, Baibai evwy wone.


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